United Kingdom - Info - British Citizenship and Northern Rhodesia
Watch our BRITISH NATIONALITY WEBINAR where our two British nationality experts - Philip Gamble and Mishal Patel - discuss a family birth in Northern Rhodesia and its implications for claims to British nationality in the modern day.
A birth in Northern Rhodesia (or Zambia) does not normally give rights to British nationality in the modern day. However, where a parent or grandparent was born in the UK, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, or registered as a British citizen in the period before Independence, it is possible to have claims to British or Irish citizenship in the modern day.
Other than during the period of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia was British Protectorate up until its Independence on 24 October 1964. Northern Rhodesia formed part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland from 1 March 1958 to 31 December 1964, a territory treated as an independent Commonwealth country for British nationality purposes.
The most common routes to British nationality for those with a family member born in Northern Rhodesia are as follows:
Woman Married to British Husband
The most common routes to Irish nationality are as follows:
Parent Born in Ireland (including Northern Ireland)
Grandparent Born in Ireland (including Northern Ireland)
The UK and Ireland allow Dual nationality - the right to hold more than one citizenship. However, Zambia does not.